Musicals on television are hard to pull off, but two shows right now are proving that the genre has a place on the small screen. I'm of course talking about Nashville, now in its third season, and Empire, which recently finished a killer debut season. How cool would if be if Empire and Nashville did a crossover episode? It sounds crazy but it just might work. Both shows are about the music industry. Both feature songs that you can download on a weekly basis. Both have an affinity for character names that make a creative use of the letter "y" (seriously — Layla, Rayna Jaymes, the Lyon family).
Of course, this crossover event would never be able to actually happen. Empire is on Fox while Nashville is on ABC. If you want to know how difficult it is for those to crossover, ask a comic book fan about how Disney purchased the rights to individual X-Men characters from Fox for Avengers: Age of Ultron.
However, to get logistical in a different way, no actors or performers have played a character on one show and themselves on the other. Not that I'm surprised — the worlds of hip hop and country music rarely collide. So there's nothing stopping the two shows from existing in the same universe, and no harm in pretending that they could come together for one dramatic, spectacular television event. How exactly would this go down?
Setting: The Grammys
Obviously. The Awards bring together musicians from across decades and genres. Between the red carpet, audience, and backstage, there would be plenty of opportunities for your favorite characters on both series to interact. Would characters be hooking up in the dressing rooms? Would Juliette and Hakeem battle it out for Album of the Year?
The Collaborations
Music award ceremonies like the Grammys or VMAs are known for their crazy collaborations. Who would you like to see share the stage from Empire and Nashville? Lucious Lyon and Deacon Claybourne for a guitar duet? A performance of "Drip Drop" with Hakeem and Daphne Conrad on percussion? Sadie Stone and Elle Dallas take on an old standard? Jamal and Delphine (the guest artist on Empire played by Estelle) have a jam session with The Triple Exes? The possibilities are endless.
The best option would be to have the casts of both shows on stage in an epic performance of "You're So Beautiful."
Gunner Could Reunite With Zoey
She's an ex-something for Scarlett and Gunnar, but not part of Nashville's newest group The Triple Exes. Scarlett's former best friend left the band to pursue a backup singing career. It would be cool if she was working with a minor Empire artist like Tiana, but I don't think that's likely. She moved to Los Angeles, so she would represent a third town and possibly even a third genre at the awards. See how much drama this imaginary episode has already?
Share Advice
Maybe Jamal Lyon could help encourage Will Lexington to come out of the closet, or at the very least share his own story. It's a personal choice and I think Jamal would respect Will's decision, but he's been there. At the very least, Jamal should be able to help Will feel less alone.
Creepers Gonna Creep
Jeff Fordham will definitely get himself in trouble with either Lucious Lyon, Billy Beretti, or both. The stakes will certainly raise when the business end of Nashville meets the blazing guns of Empire.
Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves
This episode would definitely be a good venue to showcase the girl power of both Empire and Nashville. I like to think that Rayna and Cookie would become besties and take over the business. However, I can easily see them clashing as well. It would depend on what they want from the night and what's going on in their personal lives.
Cookie and Juliette, on the other hand, would certainly clash before they do business. It's an awards ceremony, and Juliette Barnes will be in full diva mode. I could see Juliette brushing Cookie off, and then Cookie realizing that she needs to try to sign her. Cookie is excellent at networking and producing, and remember how Juliette started this series as a pop artist who wanted to return to her country roots? If she ever swung back in that direction, Cookie would be the one to try and catch her.
Images: Chuck Hodes/FOX; Giphy (4); whentherightonecomesalong/Tumblr (3)
